1. Field of the Invention
The field of the invention relates to systems and method directed toward development of customer/user loyalty. More particularly it relates to systems and method which use configurable virtual objects and associable attributes to reflect and stimulate customer/user interaction with an enterprise such as a casino enterprise. In a further embodiment the acquisition of virtual objects are used to qualify the collector for benefits such as promotions and progressive jackpot games.
2. Background
Many enterprises, such as commercial enterprises including chain stores, grocery stores, airlines and casinos strive to engender loyalty and return business with their customers, users or players. It has been known to provide loyalty cards to customers who are, for grocery stores, often entitled to customer discounts. In exchange the store receives customer purchase information for the purpose of business intelligence, marketing and a degree of customer loyalty. Similarly in modern casino enterprises which may include several physical casino venues, players may enroll in the casino loyalty program. The casino enterprise includes a communication network by which an operator can monitor player activity such as wagers, jackpots, games played and the like. Players are identified typically through the player's use of a loyalty card having a machine readable stripe. For a brick and mortar casino an example of such a system is the Bally CMS® system sold by Bally Technologies, Inc. of Las Vegas, Nev. These systems interface with card readers at gaming terminals and table game input devices to provide the aforesaid tracking functions. Based upon the data collected the casino can provide bonuses to players in the way of benefits and incentives to retain a player's loyalty by, for example, awarding “comps” in the form of cash back, discounts for goods, lodging, services and gifts or points which can be exchanged for the foregoing. The tracking can be restricted to a single enterprise venue or can be on a national basis such as described in Boushy, U.S. Pat. No. 7,419,427 issued Sep. 2, 2008 and titled “National Customer Recognition System and Method”, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference. The level of “comps” available to the player is often related to the player's rating which acts to quantify the value of the player to the casino. A higher rated player is one who spends and gambles more than a lower rated player. A higher rated player is entitled to more valuable or additional comps.
Many casino enterprises also have a presence in electronic media such as by having commercial websites and social media sites accessible via the Internet or through broadband communication devices such as cellular telephones, smart phones, tablet computers and other devices.
There is an ever growing need to enhance the loyalty of customers/players in addition to offering such existing loyalty programs. There is a need to foster loyalty between players and the enterprise through activity associated with the “brick and mortar” casino venue as well as through associated electronic media. There is further a need to encourage a player or user to return to the brick and mortar physical venue inasmuch as the physical presence at the venue can often lead to the player or user spending money for entertainment, food and beverage, merchandise or other goods and services.
There is a need to provide entertainment in association with the objective of enhancing player loyalty. Entertainment may be by means of compelling graphics and animations, prizes and awards.
In electronic media such as the Internet and broadband communications, social networks have been developed such a Twitter, Facebook, etc. In this media-form it is known to provide “virtual pets”. As understood, the user signs up for and selects/receives a virtual pet. The user is then required or requested to engage in activity through which the virtual pet may be nurtured or provided for. There are other virtual environments such as Farmville and the like.
It would be advantageous for an enterprise to use virtual objects to engender brand loyalty, encourage customer/user commercial and non-commercial activity, provide promotions, provide entertainment packages and provide the customer/user with an accessible virtual object. It would further be advantageous if such virtual objects could be used as a vehicle to encourage return visitation to the enterprise brick and mortar facility(ies). Further it would be advantageous to provide, in a brick and mortar or online casino environment, qualification to one or more progressive jackpot games responsive to the player's collection of one or more virtual objects.
It would be advantageous if the virtual object would have associable attributes such as accessories, fixtures, equipment, stock, upgrades or the like and which attributes are available based upon the user/player engaging in certain activity(ies) as desired by the enterprise.
It would also be advantageous to provide a data structure for storing data for derivation of virtual objects and a mechanism by which the enterprise could purchase data packages from developers to enhance the virtual objects and accessories available.
It has also been known to provide linked progressive jackpots to players playing games. Some examples include non-symbol based progressive jackpots such as described in Acres et al, U.S. RE 37,885 titled “Method for operating Networked Linked Gaming Devices” re-issued Oct. 15, 2002 the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference. According to this reference, the operator preselects less than all of the machines on the network and the network tracks the activity of the presented machines. Players play the gaming machines. When a command is sent over the network a bonus is paid to at least one of the machines. Acres, et al U.S. Pat. No. 5,655,961 titled “Method for Operating Networked Linked Gaming Devices” issued Aug. 12, 1997, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference teaches contributing a percentage of the amount wager at gaming machines to a bonus pool, i.e. a progressive jackpot pool. The triggering of the payment of money from the bonus pool can be an event such as when the bonus pool reaches a predetermined amount. Eligibility to win a mystery bonus award can be based upon time of play, max bet and/or recognition of a player's card at the machine as described in Olsen, U.S. Pat. No. 6,217,448 issued Apr. 17, 2001 and titled “Controller-based Linked Gaming Machine Bonus System”, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference. These bonus schemes are not tied to any symbols at the gaming machine and their triggering is a surprise or mystery to the player. Another type of mystery progressive jackpot has a trigger as described in Kelly et al, U.S. Pat. No. 8,353,761 titled “Progressive Game and Processing System Thereof” which is assigned to the assignee of the present invention and the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference.
Another type of non-symbol based progressive award is as described in Olive, U.S. Pat. No. 7,582,014 titled “Slot Machine Game and System With Improved Jackpot Feature” issued Sep. 1, 2009 and Torango, U.S. Pat. No. 6,592,460 titled “Progressive Wagering System” and issued Jul. 15, 2003 the disclosures of which is incorporated by reference. These disclosures describe another form of a progressive jackpot game where, with each play, the player is participating in a “behind the scenes” or “hidden” lottery. Based upon the amount of the wager for the primary (a/k/a base) game, the player can increase their odds of triggering a jackpot prize.
It has been taught that some progressive jackpot games have eligibility requirements such as wagering the maximum amount or wagering a certain amount over time to participate in the bonus pool. For example in Acres, U.S. Pat. No. 6,319,125 titled “Method Apparatus for Promoting Play on a Network of Gaming Devices” issued Nov. 20, 2001, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference, to become eligible to participate a player must be identified as by their loyalty card and must play a game every ten seconds. In many such systems the eligibility is either determined by the player making a maximum wager, or wagering a minimum amount during a session of several plays, such as within a short temporal period of, for example, 20 seconds. Most typically eligibility does not persist over different gaming sessions or several days. By gaming session what is meant is the session where a player plays a gaming machine without significant interruption. Insertion and removal of the player's loyalty card may define a session as well as a significant interruption in play signifying that the player has discontinued gaming or left the casino.
Schneider et al U.S. Pat. No. 5,639,088 titled “Multiple Events Award System” issued Jun. 17, 1997 discloses a linked network of video poker games where the player, over several sessions, attempts to record over several rounds/sessions a set of outcomes such as all thirteen fours-of-a-kind.
In Luciano, Jr., U.S. Pat. No. 8,313,371 titled “Method and Apparatus for Awarding Component Prizes in a Gaming Environment” issued Nov. 201, 2012, assigned to the assignee of the present invention and the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference, there is a disclosed a game where, for certain outcomes, the player can win a virtual component of, for example, a tractor. When a player wins a virtual wheel in a paid for primary game outcome, that win results in a coupon or virtual record. When the player has won all of the designated tractor components, the player is entitled to the prize which may in fact be a lawn tractor.
Schneider and Luciano teach a persistent effect where the player can work toward a goal over several if not numerous gaming sessions and where the individual wins (a four-of-a-kind or a virtual tractor component) are saved for the player. A drawback is that the outcomes are outcomes for paid for primary games. That is, the player must risk wagers, as in a typical pay-to-play (P2P) game to obtain the desired outcomes. It would be advantageous to provide a feature which does not require the player to risk a wager and where the player can accumulate virtual items such as virtual objects and accessories, accoutrements, features of benefits with the user/player can interact such as a virtual pet or virtual environment like a virtual farm or city. It would also be advantageous to enable the player through earned or provided free games to be able to work, through acquiring virtual objects, to qualify for one or more features such as progressive prizes.